FOR a year Ipswich children have spent countless hours digitally rebuilding the Ipswich CBD as it was more than 120 years ago.
The group of about 25 children used the 3D, interactive, and reportedly addictive, game Minecraft to reconstruct Brisbane St and surrounds as it was before the Great Flood of 1893.
On Wednesday, the children watched their hard work being washed away as the Great Flood was digitally recreated sending torrents of water through their city.
Siblings Ty, AJ and Jess Biffin were among the group that regularly attended the Minecraft sessions at Ipswich City Library.
Ty said while the whole experience was “really fun”, he wasn’t looking forward to Wednesday’s finale when the city was flooded.
“We spent a whole year building this awesome city centre and then it’s destroyed in a flood,” Ty said.
“All that hard work, gone. It’s heartbreaking.”
The Minecraft project is one of many interactive sessions run at Ipswich Library and one the Biffin children thoroughly enjoyed.
Mum Deb said the project not only taught the kids about working together to build the city, but gave them a new perspective on an historical event.
She said it helped them understood the real loss previous generations suffered during the Great Flood.
“It’s bitter sweet for them,” Deb said.
“The loss they are feeling is a virtual loss but it’s opened to the door to talking to them about the actual loss people had to endured back then.”
This was the second time the Biffin children took part in an ongoing activity at the library and they’re already keen for the next one.